To call the Suzuki Jimny an exceedingly popular compact 4×4 is an understatement, since the factory in Japan is still struggling to keep up with global demand and the waiting list in Australia remains up to a year long.
But that hasn’t stopped the Japanese small-car brand from looking to capitalise on its iconic mud-plugger by expanding the latest Suzuki Jimny range, which arrived here in two-door form in January 2019.
As we’ve previously reported, a bigger five-door model and even a tray-back ute version are on the cards, and according to a report from India last week, Maruti Suzuki is still on track to sell a bigger, more practical five-door Jimny in the world’s second most populous nation soon.
The report also claims Suzuki is working on a new mid-size SUV that will leverage the platform of the Toyota Raize compact SUV.
Neither Suzuki nor its Indian arm Maruti has commented on any of these vehicles, but continued reports out of India contend the five-door Jimny is a done deal and will take on vehicles like the Jeep Wrangler-mimicking Mahindra Thar and the Force Gurka (a Mercedes-Benz G-Class rip-off).
Earlier this year Autocar India confidently proclaimed that production of the five-door Jimny will enter production in late 2020 at the brand’s Hansalpur plant in India.
It remains to be seen whether a five-door version of the Jimny would get a new turbo engine or use the existing 75kW/130Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder unit.
Suzuki has not yet confirmed nor denied the five-door model, which would be sold in India and across export markets including Australia. Three-door models would also be built at Hansalpur to ease the burden on the Japanese factory in Kosai, where three-door Jimny production is maxxed out at around 60,000 vehicles per year.
Suzuki Australia said in April this year that they are keen to get their hands on more Jimny models.
Suzuki Australia general manager, Michael Pachota, wouldn’t be drawn on whether the Jimny five-door has been green-lit, but did say his company will “have its hand held high if there is ever a possibility of this variant in future”.
He stated “Jimny is an amazing product that, even presented with current challenges in market, still continues in very high demand. Any further variants would be growing that incredible order bank even further, especially if we ‘ever’ start marketing any of them.”
There is also a Suzuki Jimny ute available in New Zealand thanks to industrious local engineering and Suzuki Australia is pushing the factory in Japan to develop a reborn ‘Samurai’ that could sell like facemasks during a pandemic.
“I am pushing for the development for a ute-back Jimny in Australia,” Pachota told carsales at the Jimny national launch in early 2019.
“Australian consumers can’t wait to get their hands on a ute version, so I’m pushing very hard with the factory to try and get that into Australia,” he stated.
Suzuki Australia is yet to respond to questions around the latest news about the expansion of the Jimny vehicle family.
Images: Nikita Chuyko
The Link LonkOctober 12, 2020 at 10:31AM
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